Exams and Excursions

Tervetuloa, these past two weeks have been pretty busy, with the first of my exams occurring last week, and taking a little weekend trip to Stockholm, Sweden.

Since Aalto University has three periods during the Spring semester, that unfortunately means that you also have at least a few final exam periods.  Thankfully I only had one exam, my Purchasing and Supply Management course, so preparing for it was simpler than at USC where you have all of your exams at the same time.  Unlike USC, you have to actually sign up for the exam, and if you forget to sign up in time, you can't take the exam.  Once you have signed up and the day of the exam comes up, you have to go to the main building to check where the exam is being held.  This means that you have to be early for the exam, since you might have to go to another building and being late for an exam is considered unacceptable here at Aalto.  My exam took place in the Arkadia building that was near by.  Another note about these exams, they usually last about 4 hours, but based on what other students have told me, it should never take 4 hours for most exams.  The reason they allot 4 hours is to help students who may need the time.  The exams tend to be essay based with multiple choice style questions being rare.  My exam was only 4 questions, with one full essay, a short description of a podcast that we did earlier in the course, a mini essay, and some vocabulary definitions.  During exam week, like at USC, there are no classes, so since I had a small break, me and a friend decided to take a weekend trip to the capital of Sweden, Stockholm.

Background Information
This is just a little information about Stockholm, if you aren't familiar with the city.  Stockholm is the largest city in Sweden, and serves as the capital.  The city has been around for a very long time, with the original palace, known as the Tre Kronor Palace, dating back to the 13th century.  At one time, Sweden was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Europe and controlled most of the Nordic countries (Norway, Finland) with Denmark being the only exception.  The Old Town of Stockholm is known as Gamla Stan in Swedish and is actually on a separate island from the rest of the city with many bridges leading tourists and locals into it.  One such entrance leads through the Riksdag or the Swedish Parliament, pictured below.  Sweden is considered a constitutional monarchy, with the current king being Carl XVI Gustaf and Stockholm still serves as the residence of the royal family.  Currently, Sweden is a part of the European Union, but does not use the Euro as its currency.  The currency of Sweden is known as the Kronor.

The Trip Day One:
My travel companion, Alyssa, and I set out for Helsinki's airport at about 10am and took a flight on FinnAir.  We left at 1pm, and thanks to the time zone between Helsinki and Stockholm, the flight took no time at all.  As with most European cities, there are multiple ways to get into the city from the airport.  If you are arriving from another country, you'll most likely arrive at Arlandia airport and there are two main ways to reach the city.  The first is an express train that costs about 480 Kronor for a round trip (about 48 Euros).  The way that we used was the airport shuttle that was half the cost of the train.  We had made reservations to stay at the City Backpackers Hostel and once we arrived at the central station, we followed the instructions to get to the hostel.  We took about an hour to organize our belongings and figure out what we wanted to do.  For the most part, we spent the first day in Stockholm in the Old Town and just wandering around the city.  Despite not visiting any museums, just walking around and taking in the sights was a good way to begin to familiarize ourselves with the city.  While we were in the Old Town, we happened to find a street that had many restaurants and cafes, and since it was close to dinner time, we chose a nice Pakistani/Indian restaurant.  For about 220 Kronor, I was able to get a large portion of chicken biryani as well as a large piece of garlic naan bread and a glass of soda.  It hit during the meal that I am an American, studying in Finland, traveling with an Australian, visiting Sweden while eating in an Indian restaurant and it was funny to consider how multicultural it seemed.

The Trip Day Two:
Alyssa and I decided to head to the Vasa Museum and possibly try to see the ABBA museum.  We did a little research to find out where the Vasa Museum was located, and how we wanted to get there.  After finding out that the public transportation in Stockholm does not accept cash, we decided to walk the 30 minutes it would take to get to the Djurgarden district where the museum was located.  When we got there, we were amazed to see the Vasa.  The Vasa is a 17th century Swedish warship that had been sunk for over 300 years.  While I wish I could say that the ship was involved in many battles, the truth is that the Vasa was not built properly and only got 1500 meters into its maiden voyage before sinking.  Knowing that doesn't take away from the sense of awe that you get, knowing that you are looking at one of the only examples of these type of ships.  The ship itself is massive, and the museum spans 4 or 5 floors, each displaying new views and information about the ship.  The ship just has an enormous amount of detail and had over 500 sculptures including 20 statues of Roman emperors that the Swedish monarchy claimed as part of their lineage.  Its even more astonishing when you see an example of the different colors that were possibly used to decorate the ship.  There were also exhibits on how the sailors would have looked and the events that lead to the Vasa being built and ultimately sunk.

A view of the Vasa from the side

The back of the Vasa

Some examples of colors used in the Vasa's sculptures

The Nordisk Museum

While taking a break from the Vasa, we decided to look up where the ABBA Museum was located and how much it would cost, we found out that the museum would cost about 250 Kronor (25 Euros) and that the museum does not accept cash so we decided to scrap that idea, which I wasn't heartbroken over since I never listened to ABBA's music.  We decided instead to pay a visit to the Nordisk Museum, which is a museum that shows examples of Swedish culture through the years and some other exhibits.  There are examples of how Swedish households evolved from the decline of Swedish power to the modern era.  It also had some examples of what games Swedish kids would play and how they were expected to act with their parents.  One of the more interesting exhibits was the one covering Sweden's addiction to sugar and different examples of commercials from the 1950's to more modern advertisements. Another interesting exhibit was the evolution of Swedish fashion through the years and a lot of the styles from the 60's and 70's were very similar to what you would have seen in the United States.

After visiting the museums, we decided to head back to our hostel and on our way back we decided to visit a church we had found, and we happened to be walking into an organ concert playing songs from Johann Sebastian Bach.  We stuck around for most of the concert, which was a very cool experience.  I had never heard a church organ used inside a church before, and it creates a sound that is hard to put into words.  When we had heard about half the concert, we left and indulged in the free food that the hostel was offering that night.

The Trip Day Three and Four:
We spent the last two days in Stockholm back in the Old Town, specifically around the complex of the Royal Palace.  When His Majesty is not using the Palace, much of it is open to visitors.  For about 150 Kronor, you get access to three areas of the Palace, the Treasury, State Apartments and the Tre Kronor museums.  We started with the Treasury, which contains many of the regalia of the 17th-19th century Swedish monarchs.  We took an English tour and learned that the reason that the current king does not wear a crown or use other forms of regalia is because they have not been coronated.  A coronation is when a representative of the Christian faith blesses the ruler and if a ruler has not had a coronation, they are not seen with a crown or with the stereotypical red and white robe.  The Swedish royal family is still Christian, but due to the high level of expenses of a coronation, in the 20th century the family decided not to use state money for the ceremony. I would have some photos to show, but the museum does not allow photos of any kind in the Treasury.

After the Treasury, we paid a visit to the State Apartments, where the royal family used to live and where guests to the Palace would often stay.  This museum mostly consisted of different rooms that were used by the family, including the audience chambers for both the queen and king of Sweden.  Some of the rooms are still used, particularly the Council Chamber where the Swedish government receives foreign representatives for meetings.

The last of the three museums is dedicated to the original palace, the Tre Kronor. In English, the name of the palace is the Three Crowns Castle.  It was originally built in the 13th century, but like most important stone buildings in Europe, burnt down sometime in the 16th century and was replaced by the current palace, but the North Wing of Tre Kronor survived and was incorporated into the new design, which is pictured below.

We also had a chance to see the changing of the guard.  On scheduled days, the Swedish Royal Guard will perform the ceremony and in the summer it is supposed to be an amazing ceremony to see, but even in the winter, it is a sight to behold.  It takes about 40 minutes, and involves a small group of soldiers standing in front of the palace, marching around the complex and finishing in the courtyard that leads to the different museums.

After seeing the Tre Kronor Museum and the changing of the guard, it was time to head back to the airport and head back to Helsinki.  Stockholm was an amazing city, and while I definitely want to go back someday, it is nice to be back in Helsinki.  That's pretty much everything for this update, but don't fear, I'll be back in two weeks with another update, and I might be showing off a new city, so be sure to check that out.  Until then, nahadaan!

Snow, Snow, Snow and More Snow

Hyva paiva! I'm back to let you all know what I have been up to since the last time I updated the blog.  Last time, I talked about some issues that I was having with my bank, which is thankfully no longer a problem.  I also left a picture at the end of my last update as a hint to my next trip.  The answer was Lapland.  Lapland is the northern most province in Finland, and I spent about three days at the Levi resort.  I had a lot of fun and experienced things that I would have never been able to in the U.S, but it definitely gave me a new appreciation for winters in Virginia and South Carolina.
     
Lapland:
The trip was organized by KY-Sub, which is the cultural subcommittee of KY (the business student union) and lasted from Wednesday night to Monday morning.  Following my class on Wednesday, I gathered my luggage and went into the city to begin our journey to the snowy region.  We left from Helsinki at about 9 P.M and it took nearly 15 hours (including stops) to get to Levi.  We arrived at our cabins at about 1 P.M  Thursday and spent the first night mostly exploring the resort and getting groceries since our cabins were equipped with full kitchens.  I did have photos of the cabin, but I forgot to put my camera's memory card in the camera, so I wasn't able to save any of the photos, unless they came from my phone.  We also went to the ski slope to pick up our tickets (shown right).

On Friday, we started out by visiting a traditional reindeer farm managed by some of the Sami people of Finland.  The Sami are the indigenous people of Finland and maintain their culture, with their capital being in Inari, another city in Lapland.  There were about 60 of us there, and I was part of the first group to get on the sleigh.  The ride itself didn't last very long, maybe about 20 minutes, but it was an experience that I think will be hard to forget.  After the ride, we spent time by a campfire the Sami owners had set up, and even had a chance to pet a few of the deer and even feed a few of the babies that they had nearby.

That same night, a friend of mine, Alyssa Currie, and I walked to a nearby shop called Lapland Safari to check in for our nighttime safari.  We booked tickets to go on a snowmobile ride to a nearby frozen lake to try and spot the Northern Lights.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't permit us to really see anything, but we spent about an hour with the other people on the tour in a cabin by the lake.  I wish I could say that I had been able to drive to the cabin on the snowmobile.  After we set out, we made it about 10 minutes into the trip before I had a bit of an accident.  The guides had explained how to drive the snowmobiles, but when I was going around a corner, I accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and hit a snow bank.  No one got hurt, and the snowmobile was still in working condition, but I will probably wait to drive one again until I can practice more with an instructor.  Other than that, it was a very enjoyable trip.  That night I also learned something, the Finnish sauna is one of the most amazing things in the world.  Our cabin had a private sauna in it and it is easy to see why the Finnish people love them so much.  All you have to do is heat it up and drop water on the hot coals and sit there in the steam.

The next morning, I met with Alyssa again and made our way to the ski lift to begin our snowboarding lesson.  I chose snowboarding because everyone I had asked said that snowboarding was easier to learn than skiing.  I dont know if skiing would have been easier, but snowboarding was fun.  We met our instructor Tomi and he started us with some basic exercises.  The lesson lasted about an hour and a half.  I fell a lot and had trouble with the basics, but learning a new sport was really cool.

Following the lesson, I met up with my cabin mates and convinced them that we should go bowling for a little while.  We enjoyed the game for about an hour and decided after our second game to call it quits.  That night I went to a Lapish restaurant to try some examples of the local food.  I did try some reindeer meat which is a common protein in Lapland, and it was something that you just have to try for yourself.

Santa Claus Village:

We left for Helsinki at about noon on Sunday and our first stop was at the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi (the provincial capital of Lapland).  If you didn't know, Finland claims to be the official home of Santa Claus, and it would seem that the many diplomats and celebrities that visit the village agree.  I did get to meet the "real" Santa, and despite being 20 years old, it was really cool.  The village also has various shops and cafes for tourists and even has its own post office that will mail cards with an official Christmas Village stamp.  The post office will even get your letter mailed by Christmas if you want.  We spent about two hours at the village before heading back on the bus and going back to Helsinki.

School:

It felt somewhat weird going back to school after the trip, but it feels even weirder to say that I already have final exams next week.  I will post again next Wednesday to explain how the Finnish students handle exam week and what the exam was like.  Until then, Moi moi and Go Gamecocks!